The preparation of alcohols from various sources is known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,162,913 discloses a process for hydrating olefins in the presence of heteropoly acids. The patent teaches that an inert porous support such as alumina may be used as a carrier for heteropoly acids such as organic complexes of high molecular weight in which the nuclear element such as phosphorus, silica, boron, or arsenic is surrounded by a coordinated group of other metallic oxide or oxides such as the oxides of tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium, chromium, sulfur, selenium or tellurium. This heteropoly acid-supported catalyst is heterogeneous in nature and is not homogeneous. U.S. Pat. No. 2,014,740 discloses the hydration of olefins with steam in a vapor phase process as does U.S. Pat. No. 2,057,283. The catalysts which are employed for these reactions comprise, in the former case, a solution of a volatile halide such as ammonium chloride, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen bromide, methyl chloride, ethyl iodide, etc. over an adsorbent material such as pumice, silica gel, coke and the like, while the latter patent uses a metal compound which does not yield the metal under reaction conditions in a finely divided state or on a suitable carrier which may include the types used in the former patent. In a similar manner, U.S. Pat. No. 2,126,952 and British Patent No. 748,959 teach the production of alcohols in which an olefin is hydrated in the gaseous or vapor phase. The U.S. patent uses, as a catalyst for the reaction, a bisulfate or pyrosulfate of the alkali metals and chlorides such as calcium chloride, zinc chloride and manganese chloride. The reaction in the vapor phase may also contain a filling material or carrier such as pumice, kieselguhr, carborundum or silica gel. The British patent specification utilizes a phosphoric acid on a porous carrier for the catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,756,247 relates to a process for chemical reaction in the adsorbed phase of solid adsorbents, said process consisting of adsorbing an olefin on an activated charcoal-supported catalyst followed by the hydration and stripping of the adsorbed olefin with steam and the secondary stripping of adsorbed alcohol with steam. The hydration of the olefin is effected in a vapor phase and care is taken during the operation to prevent the condensation of the outer surfaces of the support. British Pat. No. 408,006 teaches the hydration of gaseous ethylene and steam utilizing, as a catalyst therefor, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid or mixtures thereof. In order to increase the efficiency of gas distribution, a filling material may be utilized in order to promote the contact of the gas and acid. The filling material which is utilized for this purpose may comprise carriers such as pumice, silica gel, etc., all of which possess a low surface area.
Another U.S. patent, namely U.S. Pat. No. 2,961,472, relates to the hydration of an olefin using vacuum reconcentrated sulfuric acid. The reconcentrated sulfuric acid which is utilized in this process must contain less than 0.2% by weight, and preferably less than 1.0% by weight, of normal non-aqueous deleterious impurities and cites, as an example of these impurities, carbon. This patent therefore teaches that the presence of an impurity such as carbon in an amount greater than 2.0% by weight would be disadvantageous to the operation of a reaction involving an olefin.
As will hereinafter be shown in greater detail, it has now been discovered that alcohols may be produced from olefins by treatment with liquid water in the presence of an acid catalyst such as aqueous sulfuric acid utilizing a solid porous material as a co-catalyst.